DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A blog by Joseph Mougel published by Mediapart

The association “Bodensee Peace Region” which unites people from the countries bordering Lake Constance: Germany, Switzerland and Austria and which demands the reconversion of industries working in the armament of 3 countries has published a text on March 2 opposing the decision of the Bundestag of February 27 to rearm Germany and proposing non-violent methods of action.

The Bodensee Peace Region association protests against the new rearmament of NATO and the Bundeswehr.

Militarist reflexes instead of reflection: rearmament is not the solution but on the contrary the cause of new wars

Frantic applause for rearmament in the Bundestag on February 27: shame on Germany.

Strict diplomacy and methods of civil resistance are more likely to succeed than armed resistance.

Lindau / Überlingen February 28. The Bodensee Peace Region Association strongly condemns the injuries done to the people and territorial integrity of Ukraine by the armed groups of the Russian Federation. However for Frieder Fahrbach, representative of the association: “It is not the deliveries of arms to Ukraine that can end the war. They create the danger of an extension and prolongation of the war and can ignite a lasting civil war in Ukraine. With each delivery of arms the danger of an atomic war in Europe grows.” Rearmament and a purely military security logic on both sides, the Russian Federation and NATO, are the root causes of the war in Ukraine.

Non-violent methods are more likely to succeed than armed resistance

Who wants peace must prepare peace is one of the basic phrases of the association “Peace Region Bodensee”. Even during a military invasion, methods of nonviolent resistance[1] not only produce fewer casualties but are also significantly more successful than those of armed resistance[2].

Rearmament reinforces global warming

The recently published new edition of the report of the 6th session of the IPCC World Climate Council[3] finds that the dangers have increased more than ever. At the end of the decade, the window for action to avert climate catastrophe will be definitively closed. The growing support of the majority of parties in the Bundestag on February 27 for a drastic increase in the arms budget is, in this context, irresponsible because the military is one of the main causes of the production of greenhouse gases, the consumption of resources and the disturbance of nature. Rearmament is incompatible with efforts to contain climate change.

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The Bodensee Peace Region demands an immediate revision of the debates in the Bundestag, a moratorium on Ukraine’s NATO membership and a common security policy in the European house.

The association “Bodensee Peace Region” calls on all parties to the conflict to immediately return to the negotiating table and there also to take into consideration the security needs of the Russian Federation. It calls for a moratorium on the admission to NATO of new countries from Eastern Europe. Facing the US government, only a European peace policy including Russia can restore and keep peace in Europe.

For more information, see :

www.friedensregion-bodensee.de

www.sicherheitneudenken.de

Press contact: Friedensregion Bodensee e.V., Frieder Fachbach, Lindau/Überlingen, 0178 – 168 96 26

The Bodensee Peace Region works for a culture of peace, a sustainable lifestyle, global justice and for a political concept geared towards security and disarmament. Through actions, demonstrations, actions and trainings, our goal is thinking based on a logic of peace in the sense of the concept: “Think differently about security”. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations are the foundation of our association.

We provide skills for non-violent conflict transformation in all areas. For this we show the links between capitalist economic growth, the destruction of nature, the climatic catastrophe, rearmament and war. We are working on alternatives for an economy of the future and a good life for all. Through this, we carry a commitment to a major transformation (economic, ecological/social and a security policy) and encourage civic and political engagement.

The circle of silence for peace, climate protection and justice is held every Friday from 5 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. in front of the old town hall in Lindau under the theme “War in Ukraine”.

Stop the war – no new weapons

Instead of that : Engage in a peace process for a “Common Home Europe”

For peace it must never be too late

[1] See for example Theodor Ebert (1981). Social resistance – Waldkirsch – Publishing company “Waldkircher Verlagsgesellschaft

[2] Chenoweth, Erica, Maria J. (2011) Why civil resistance works. The strategic logic of nonviolent conflict. new York

[3] IPCC in French

(Click here for a French version of this article.)

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An article by Pauline Rouquette in France 24

Thousands of Russians have taken to the streets in protest against the invasion of Ukraine, with more than 6500 demonstrators arrested as of Tuesday, according to the OVD-Info human rights group, which tracks political arrests. 

A person holds a sign during a protest against Russian invasion of Ukraine in Moscow on February 27, 2022. © Evgenia Novozhenina, Reuters

And despite a crackdown by the Russian authorities, opposition to Moscow’s war in Ukraine is gaining support. While some continue to demonstrate publicly, others are setting up rear bases on the Internet and circumventing restrictions by using social networks, encrypted messaging and VPN servers. 

“I’m not afraid, I went out alone,” a user named Stanislav wrote on Twitter. The message is accompanied with a photo of him protesting on a street in the town of Azov in the western Russian oblast of Rostov. The 30-year-old holds a sign that reads “#НЕТВОЙНЕ” (No War) in large black letters. 

Fear of repression has meant that only a minority of Russians are publicly expressing their opposition to the invasion. However, the anti-war movement is gathering support on the Internet, mainly through social networks and encrypted messaging services such as Telegram and Signal. 

On Twitter, the hashtag #ЯпротивВойны (I’m against the war) was trending in Russia on Tuesday. “This has been the case since the beginning of the war,” Stanislav told FRANCE 24.  

Discretion when faced with repression 

Most of the opposition seems to be fomenting behind screens since, under Vladimir Putin, to oppose the war out on the streets risks arrest and conviction. This is reflected in the daily figures released by OVD-Info. 

The NGO told FRANCE 24 that it tracks the number of people arrested at anti-war rallies – not the number of participants. Nearly a week after the start of the Russian invasion, the numbers are already significant.

“We have never seen such a large number of detainees per day,” said Grigory Durnovo, an analyst for the group. “We counted at least 6,489 detainees in five days. This is enough to show us the number of people willing to go out on the streets and express their views,” he said. 

A Facebook post on Tuesday by the NGO mentions more than 3,100 arrests in Moscow, more than 2,000 in St. Petersburg, about 100 in Yekaterinburg and a few dozen in other, less populated cities across the country.

While the arrests have not prevented thousands of Russians from defying the law to express their opposition to the war, the vast majority prefer to maintain a low profile.  

Durnovo attributed this to a wave of repression seen in 2021, notably with the closure of celebrated human rights group Memorial, as well as the criminal prosecution of people who participated in protests earlier this year.

Twitter, Signal and Telegram: the backbone of the anti-war movement 

But protesters still find ways to express their opposition to the war while remaining under the radar. 

“Contacts between protesters are mainly on Twitter and Telegram,” says Stanislav, who depicts them as networks of solidarity. Members on these groups share information from independent media (including the online TV channel Dojd), relay petitions and support protesters arrested by the police.

“We help them pay fines and also find lawyers to help them,” he said. 

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(Click here for a version of this article in French).

How can we be sure to get news about peace demonstrations?

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According to the OVD-Info website, depending on the charges, protesters risk being fined “from 2,000 to 300,000 rubles (from €17 to more than €2,500) and risk up to 30 days in detention”. 

Unable to rely on Russian media sources regarding the protests, OVD-Info receives information directly from the field as well as from the detainees themselves. “They call us via our hotline or send messages to our Telegram bot,” Durnovo explained. “We ask them to tell us the number of detainees on a police bus or in a police station along with their names, the name of the city and any other significant information, such as possible cases of violence.”

He added that this information is crosschecked with other sources. This includes independent media, Telegram channels and, to a lesser extent, statements from police officials (which is compared with data collected elsewhere).   

“The official media sometimes mentions anti-war protests but we can’t use them as a source because they don’t tell the whole story. Sometimes we can quote the number of detainees from the statements of police officials and compare it with our own data,” he said. 

Petition gathers over 1 million signatures   

In addition to NGOs, citizens and professional groups have been taking up the anti-war banner by using social networks or getting support from independent media.  

A number of petitions and open letters have been circulating on the Internet since the start of the invasion, including one from Russian lawyers citing Russian violations of the UN Charter. Russian scientists have posted a video on YouTube expressing their opposition to the war. 

The most significant of these initiatives remains a Change.org  petition entitled, Stop the War with Ukraine. Launched by Lev Ponomarev, a Russian political activist committed to the defence of human rights, the text calls on Russian citizens to resist the war. It exceeded 1 million signatures on Tuesday.

The petition calls for “an immediate ceasefire of the Russian armed forces and their immediate withdrawal from the territory of the sovereign state of Ukraine”. 

According to Ponomarev, if a million signatures are gathered, it means that tens of millions of people are opposed to the war against Ukraine, given the difficulty many Russians have in accessing the Internet. 

‘Restrictions can be circumvented on the Internet’ 

On social networks, many messages testify both to the vigorous opposition that some Russians have against the war and the government, as well as their reluctance to go and shout it out on the streets. 

 “In the West, foreigners write on social networks, ‘It’s up to the Russians to stop the dictator’ – but how on earth? This monster will crush any protest,” read one comment under a Facebook post. 

“My friends went out to demonstrate in Moscow today with placards. No one joined them,” another user lamented, before ironically remarking in another message: “You have to go out to sing Ukrainian songs: singing is not yet banned!” 

Despite the Russian authorities’ efforts to censor certain online resources, demonstrating opposition to the Russian government seems much less risky on the Internet than on the streets.  

According to Human Rights Watch, Russian authorities have threatened to fine or block several independent Russian media outlets if they do not remove certain publications about the war in Ukraine. The NGO also expressed concern about the sharp rise in censorship. In recent days, Facebook and Twitter have also come under fire from Russia’s communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, which is now restricting their access. 

However, as Stanislav points out, “on the Internet, restrictions can be circumvented. Many online resources can still be accessed using a VPN (virtual private network), which is widely used. The VPN transmits traffic via servers in a country other than Russia, where sources of information can be blocked”, he added. 

However, he is not satisfied with just this rear base on the Internet. Even if he is alone each time when he goes out to protest – his friends are afraid to demonstrate with him in public – he says he wants to continue to protest on the streets, saying: “Protesting only on the Internet cannot lead to much.” 

This article is a translation from the original in French.

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An article by Natasha Lomas March 1 from TechCrunch

In a hint of the strength of opposition among Russian professionals to war in Ukraine, an open letter that’s been circulating through the country’s IT industry since the invasion on Thursday — to protest at the act of military aggression and call for peace — has gathered around 30,000 signatories from named IT workers.

Portrait of Natalia Lukyanchikova from her Facebook page

The petition is entitled: “An open letter from representatives of the Russian IT industry against the military operation on the territory of Ukraine.”

The list of names and job titles — some also specifying which company the person works for — includes IT professionals who identify themselves as entrepreneurs, product managers, heads of customer experience, analytics, backend developers, product designers, marketing specialists, devops engineers, iOS engineers, gameplay developers, system analysts, IT recruiters and many, many more.

The Google Document that’s been used to host the petition runs to 652 pages.

The full text of the letter, which is written in Russian, reads [translated with machine translation]:

We, the employees of the Russian IT industry, are categorically against military actions on the territory of Ukraine initiated by the armed forces of the Russian Federation.

We ask the leadership of our country to pay attention to our appeal, find ways to resolve this situation peacefully and prevent human casualties.

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It’s not possible to verify that all the names listed as signatories are genuine — but we have confirmed that the petition was started by a woman called Natalia Lukyanchikova, who told us she’s an “IT specialist”.

She is also the first signatory of the letter, where she lists herself as a product analyst at recruitment website, hh.ru.

TechCrunch reached Lukyanchikova via email and she explained that she shared the peace petition to her public Facebook page last week — calling for other IT workers to put their names to it and to mobilize to try to get media coverage for the initiative.

We also spoke with another Russian IT worker who told us they had signed the petition — and said lots of people from their tech company, including its CEO, had also signed — but this source requested anonymity to avoid drawing attention to their action because of the risk of retaliation.

In her initial Facebook post to launch the petition, Lukyanchikova wrote [translated from Russian]: “Below is the text of an open letter from the IT community. I don’t know if this will work out, but I know that collective action helps sometimes. This also helps people understand that they are not alone. So far this is the only legal action I see that is not banned. You can sign up via the link in the first comment.”

In subsequent posts to her Facebook page, she can also be seen tracking progress over a handful of days as the number of signatures rises.

The petition appears to have quickly picked up steam among Russia’s IT industry as the country’s invasion of Ukraine stepped up, garnering over 10,000 signatories by Saturday and topping 20,000 by Sunday — before reaching close to 30,000 names now, at the time of writing.

Asked if she believes the petition could have an impact, Lukyanchikova told us: “I want to believe that our voices will be heard and peace will be restored.”

Some media outlets inside Russia have reported on the anti-war letter.

Tech industry publication vc.ru, for example, covered it on Saturday, when it reported that the signatories — then numbering around 1,300 — included employees of Russian tech giants Yandex and VKontakte, among many other types of businesses.

Its report also notes that similar anti-war letters have been published by representatives of other industries from inside the country, such as teachers, scientists and doctors. Although the IT industry letter appears to have gathered the largest number of signatures.

This report was updated with a couple of minor corrections: We originally stated the petition had closed; actually it’s still open to further signatures. Also Lukyanchikova’s job title is ‘product analyst’, not ‘food analyst’ as the machine translation of the cyrillic script displayed in the petition list, which we had used to translate it from Russian, (incorrectly) rendered it. 

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An article published by the Russian website Meduza (translation by CPNN)

(Editor’s note: The original petition has been withdrawn from all media because of threats to the teachers that have signed it. Only a few lines are published on the Google Doc with the names of the first thousand signatures.

Google explains that 1000 is their limit for signatures but from February 24 to March 4 it had been signed by 5000 people including teachers from almost all regions of Russia: Adygea, Altai Territory, Altai, Arkhangelsk Region, Bashkortostan, Belgorod Region, Bryansk Region, Buryatia, Vladimir Region, Volgograd Region, Vologda Region, Voronezh Region, Dagestan , Trans-Baikal Territory, Ivanovo Region, Irkutsk Region, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Kaliningrad Region, Kaluga Region, Kamchatka Territory, Karelia, Komi, Kemerovo Region, Kirov Region, Kostroma Region, Krasnodar Territory, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Kurgan Region, Kursk Region, Leningrad Region region, Lipetsk region, Mari El, Mordovia, Moscow, Moscow region, Murmansk region, Nizhny Novgorod region, Novgorod region, Novosibirsk region, Omsk region, Orenburg region, Perm region,Primorsky Territory, Pskov Region, Rostov Region, Ryazan Region, Samara Region, Saratov Region, St. Petersburg, Sakhalin Region, Sverdlovsk Region, Sevastopol, Smolensk Region, Tambov Region, Tatarstan, Tver Region, Tomsk Region, Tula Region , Udmurtia, Ulyanovsk Region, Chelyabinsk Region, Chuvashia, Chukotka, Yakutia, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Yaroslavl Region, Khabarovsk Territory, Khakassia).

As follows, the Russian website Meduza gets around the problem by publishing interviews with 5 of the signatories along with the note imposed by Russian authorities that in doing so they are acting as a foreign agent.

“In this situation, it is more terrible to remain silent. It’s a shame to be silent.” More than a thousand Russian teachers openly spoke out against the war with Ukraine. Here is what they say about the invasion – and how they explain what is happening to the students

12:48, February 26, 2022Source: Meduza

This message (material) was created and (or) distributed by a foreign media outlet acting as a foreign agent and (or) a Russian legal entity acting as a foreign agent.

We need your help. Please support Meduza.

On February 25, the day after the start of the war with Ukraine, Russian teachers published a petition in which they openly supported the anti-war protests and demanded a ceasefire. At the time of publication, it was signed by more than 1200 teachers from 65 regions of Russia, as well as from other countries: Italy, USA, France, Estonia, Israel, Sweden and Germany. Meduza has contacted the five faculty members who signed the document and is publishing their monologues.

Ivan Menshikov,mathematics teacher from Moscow, one of the authors of the petition

On the morning of February 24, my colleagues and I had the feeling that something needed to be done. You can’t just sit back and watch such a disaster unfold. The country is heading for the abyss, trying to capture the neighboring country by barbaric methods. I wanted to say that we think it’s terrible. The petition is the first thing that came to my mind.

I wrote the original text , then my colleagues corrected it. On the one hand, I wanted it to be as honest and sincere as possible. On the other hand, we did not want to repel doubting people with too emotional words. It was a complex procedure that took most of the day.

It was an interesting experience for me. When I wrote the petition, I had the feeling that I myself and the minimum number of people around me who also want to speak out need it. But as soon as it appeared [on the network], people immediately began to send it to each other in chat rooms. It began to spread at an insane rate. The link to it was sent to me by people with whom I don’t even have common acquaintances, and literally 15 minutes later [after publication], despite the fact that it was around 11 pm. I quickly realized that people have an urgent need to speak up and make their voices heard in some way.

Of course, students ask us questions [about the war], and each teacher chooses words at his own peril and risk. But we cannot discuss political issues with them . We can only say that war is bad and peace is good. Children, of course, agree with this thesis.

For many children, their parents try to protect them from this information [about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine]. Not all students understand what is happening, and not all are interested. Those who understand, basically broadcast the position of their parents.

Some teachers watch TV and support the current government – and, unfortunately, even this war that our state unleashed. But in my circle, the vast majority considers war unacceptable. I would like to believe that this is the case in our country as a whole.

Of course, I’m afraid to express my protest. But given the hell that’s going on in Kyiv right now – literally a day’s drive away – it’s just a shame to be led by your own fear.

Konstantin, a mathematics teacher from Moscow, asked not to indicate his last name

There is nothing worse than war. As a teacher, I experience this even more acutely. It is important to explain to students that war is bad, and to convey this as clearly and boldly as possible.

Colleagues fully agree with me. There may be disagreements about the reasons [for the invasion] and how clear everything is, but almost everyone agrees that there should be no war and that it is in the power of Russia to stop it.

I discussed the war with the students. I said almost nothing myself, but I felt how important it was for the children to discuss it. My lesson was the first on Thursday [February 24], so I was the first adult they could discuss it with. We did not speak purely about politics, but I tried to convince them that a nightmare was happening, that it was important to talk about it and support each other.

The students themselves talked a lot. Everyone is scared. Some people want to study abroad. Someone because they have families in other regions, and someone in Ukraine. To some, simply because they understand that a gloomy and unpredictable future lies ahead. Some people are worried about other people. Confusion manifests itself in different ways for everyone: someone tries to laugh it off.

I’m talking about high school students. Younger children are more likely not to understand what is happening, but they still feel that something is wrong. I heard about cases when children mocked at this [war with Ukraine]. Even at our school, children said: “We will trample, we will crush.” But I don’t know them personally.

I’m not afraid to voice my protest. Even before this story [with the petition], I wrote a post on VK asking them not to congratulate me on February 23, because it is offensive. Some parents at my last school said it tarnished the image of the teacher worse than the swimsuit photos. But I’m definitely not afraid.

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Dmitry Kazakov, history teacher from the Nizhny Novgorod region

In terms of my political convictions and worldview, I am an internationalist and a Marxist. I believe that this war is a war of two capitalist powers [Russia and Ukraine]. The result of this confrontation is the death of people, which is categorically unacceptable for me.

Besides, I am a history teacher and I know what wars lead to. Especially imperialist, aimed at satisfying the self-interest of capital. That’s why I signed [the petition].

The profession of a teacher implies the promotion of peace, kindness, mutual understanding and the search for compromises. War is contrary to such a phenomenon as pedagogical work.

All the explanations of this war that our state has given are not explanations. If more specific arguments were given, and not a story of 100 years ago , then maybe I would take a more neutral position. I categorically do not take sides – I do not know much about this confrontation. Why did the war start? Who is right and who is more to blame? But I am sure that any conflict can be resolved peacefully. A bad peace is better than a good war.

The students showed keen interest and asked me questions about the war. I tried not to answer. Not because I’m scared, but because nothing is clear yet. I did not want to endanger those who could misunderstand me, form their opinion, make it public and suffer from it. I said that now you need to have not a hot, but a cold head and hope that the war will end as quickly as possible.

If I was afraid that I would be fired, I would not be a trade union activist. And why be afraid of being fired if the consequences of this war come to us? Then no work will allow you to feel calm.

Anna Sternberg, teacher of Russian language and literature from Izhevsk

I am against war. This is the position of a teacher who teaches literature, universal values, the value of life. It seems to me that everything is logical.

The moods of my colleagues are different, but, of course, there are those who agree with me. I didn’t find out from everyone. I speak with those people who understand me, with whom I am on the same wavelength.

It is not customary for us to talk about these topics with our students. The children asked me how I feel about the war. I said that it was sharply negative, but I did not continue.

This is not the first time I have declared my protest, so I am no longer afraid. In this situation, it is more terrible to remain silent. It’s embarrassing to be silent.

Kirill, geography teacher from St. Petersburg, name changed

These events were divided into before and after both the world and people. I am not a supporter of polar opinions, “black” and “white”, but here everyone should already decide.

The problem of relations with the fraternal country is especially acute for me: my relatives live in Ukraine. Since 2014, it seemed to me that absolute obscurantism was happening.

Now you can no longer stand aside and be silent. We teach children the patriotism that pervades our entire school education system. We always speak with pride about the victories of the past and note the contribution and sacrifices that our country had to endure in the fight against the aggressor [in the Great Patriotic War]. Today we are acting – I don’t want to say “we”, but formally Russia is acting on behalf of the people – the aggressor in this “special operation”.

[After signing the petition,] I spoke as best I could. I can’t go outside: if the case goes to court, I will be forbidden to work [as a teacher]. A teacher cannot have a criminal record. As long as I have the opportunity, at least on the Internet, to express my position without violating the laws (even if they are clumsily made), I will do it to the last.

If the teacher is not bad – and I consider myself a fairly good teacher – he definitely has contact with the children. At the moment I have five ninth grades. And it is on these days that I have to go through the topic of the European south [of Russia] with the guys. Not only do I have to answer [questions] about the disputed borders with Abkhazia and South Ossetia from the point of view of international law, I also have to comment on the presence of Crimea within Russia.

Children in the ninth grade are already adults, they are 15-16 years old, and they ask questions. Of course, when we discuss this region and say that the Donetsk coal basin is part of the Rostov region, they [cling to the word] Donbass. Of course, it is very dangerous to talk about this in class. I can’t lie, but I can’t say much of what I really think either. One has to either remain silent or comment exclusively within the framework of economic geography. And children perfectly feel lies and falsehood.

Students have different attitudes towards war. In many ways, their attitude forms the informational background in the family. Whatever we say about the role of school and society in shaping a child, the role of the family is the leading one. I know many parents and often see that children broadcast their thoughts. Of course, I don’t let them [students’ conversations about politics] develop into a dialogue in a raised voice: after all, the key task of the lesson is to provide subject knowledge and basic competencies. But children still hear different opinions.

I am definitely afraid. That is why I did not go yesterday [February 24] to Nevsky [Prospect, where the protesters in St. Petersburg went]. Can I be fired? According to modern legislation, it is extremely difficult to dismiss a teacher who works according to the rules and performs his functions well. At the same time, any system (primarily the school administration) can create unbearable working conditions. But since this is not the first time in my time at school—and indeed in the history of our country—that I have had to make jeopardizing choices, I rely on a certain amount of rationality in the higher-ups who make decisions about my working conditions.

So far, I have not broken any law: no one forbade us to sign public petitions. The text of the petition does not contain any insults or calls – except for the call to stop the war, which, regardless of the position of the person, cannot be questioned. At least I still have that hope.

Teachers are not ready to do everything the state tells them to do. Teachers not only teach critical thinking, but also master it themselves.

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An article by CPNN based on multiple sources, as given.

The Board of Directors of Lukoil, the largest private company in Russia, has issued a statement opposing the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. Here is the statement carried on the Lukoil website:

STATEMENT OF LUKOIL BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Thursday, March 3, 2022

Dear Shareholders, Employees and Customers of LUKOIL,
The Board of Directors of LUKOIL expresses herewith its deepest concerns about the tragic events in Ukraine. Calling for the soonest termination of the armed conflict, we express our sincere empathy for all victims, who are affected by this tragedy. We strongly support a lasting ceasefire and a settlement of problems through serious negotiations and diplomacy.

video from Euronews

The company makes every effort to continue its operations in all countries and regions where it is present, committed to its primary mission of a reliable supplier of energy to consumers around the world.

In its activities, LUKOIL aspires to contribute to peace, international relations and humanitarian ties.

Board of Directors, LUKOIL

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According to CNN, Lukoil produces more than 2% of the world’s crude oil and employs over 100,000 people.

Lukoil’s statement is the first major corporate success for the sanctions imposed by the West following the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. This is explained on the Russian website VC: “Since February 15, the company’s capitalization at its peak has fallen by 57 percent. On Thursday, 03 March 2022, depositary receipts for the company’s shares traded on the London Stock Exchange ceased to be traded and the company was suspended. The reason for this step was the sanctions imposed by England in response to Russia’s invasion of sovereign Ukraine. . . Lukoil co-owner Vagit Alekperov has been losing billions of dollars since February 24 due to Western sanctions related to Russia’s war against Ukraine. Alekperov hid his yacht from sanctions in Montenegro. In this regard, he was more fortunate: for example, Usmanov’s yacht will not leave the port of Hamburg, the German state is preparing to nationalize it.”

VC considers that the sanctions are likely to have additional similar effects causing Russians to oppose the war: “The expression by the board of directors of PJSC Lukoil of its negative position regarding what is happening in Ukraine was the “first sign” that flew in from the camp of the Russian business elite, and it reflects not only the beginning of a change of mood, but also a willingness to declare this change openly.”

More information on the effect of the sanctions on Lukoil is provided by CNN: “Lukoil shares listed in London have lost roughly 99% of their value following the invasion. Dealing in the company’s stock was suspended on Thursday. The oil giant is already facing calls for a boycott in the United States, where there are 230 Lukoil gasoline stations owned by American franchisees. Most of the service stations that carry the Lukoil brand are in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.”

Although Russia has blocked many news services from the West and most Russians are not likely to be reading press releases from Lukoil, the news of the Lukoil statement is being carried on many Russian independent media sources in addition to the Euronews video and the VC article mentioned above. These include За рулем, T-Journal, Kommersant, Sports (because Lukoil is a major sponsor of sporting events), Interfax, Rambler finance, Postimees and MigNews.

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An article by Jennifer Mathers from The Conversation (republished under a Creative Commons license)

What do ordinary Russians think about the war that Vladimir Putin has unleashed on Ukraine? The Kremlin’s justifications: that Ukraine’s leadership has been subjecting ethnic Russians in that country to genocide  and that the government in Kyiv is led by neo-Nazis  appear far-fetched to most people outside Russia. So does the idea that Russia had to strike first to prevent Ukraine  from becoming a springboard for a Nato attack on Russia. But that’s what the Russian people have been told.

Distraught: Russian soldiers’ mothers with pictures of their sons killed in Chechnya, 1995. EPA/Sergei Chirikov

Some Russians certainly haven’t accepted these notions and oppose the invasion. Several thousand people have been arrested in cities  across the country for participating in protests. And a growing number of respected figures in Russia  have made public statements against the war in Ukraine, including celebrities  who are using their social media accounts to express their political views.

But while social media is providing young people with alternative explanations for this war, it is the older generations who represent the bedrock of Putin’s popular base of support. And older people tend to get their news from state-controlled television   rather than from social media or by seeking out Russia’s remaining independent news media that exist mainly online.

This support for Putin and his war is now at risk, however, as a direct result of the way that Russia treats its own soldiers and their families.

Within a few days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Russian independent news organisation Meduza published an article  highlighting the shock and anger of the families of Russian conscripts when they discovered that their sons had been sent into battle. Russian law prohibits the use of conscripts in combat, so these parents had no reason to believe that their loved ones were in the front lines of Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.

According to the families that Meduza interviewed, conscripts are being coerced into signing contracts of voluntary service to change their status and provide some legal cover for sending them to war.

Changes to the status of conscripts is not the only information that Russia is keeping from soldiers’ families. According to a presidential decree that  Putin signed in 2015, all military deaths are a state secret. This means that frantic families who contact the Ministry of Defence asking for information about the welfare of their sons are routinely met either with silence or delaying tactics, such as advice to contact a unit commander directly or write to the Red Cross.

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Ukraine has seemingly taken a very different approach. According to news reports, when Russian soldiers are captured they are allowed to phone their families , both to assure those back home that they are alive but also to convey to them the reality of this war.

If there is one thing that can effectively counter the Kremlin’s narrative about its use of force in Ukraine, it is personal knowledge  from trusted sources of information – such as the testimony of combatants delivered to their parents. And these parents will share this knowledge with their extended family, with neighbours, with co-workers, and with friends.

Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers

In fact, the news is already spreading , and families with sons in the army who have not heard from them directly are pleading with the only other source of information and advocacy in Russia about members of the armed forces: the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers .

The Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers began during the Soviet war in Afghanistan as a network of locally based initiatives led by the families – principally the mothers – of soldiers to lobby the Kremlin for their safe return. The committee rapidly grew in size and moral authority and expanded its remit  to put pressure on Moscow to put an end to the practice of dedovshchina. This is “hazing” – routine physical abuse meted out by senior conscripts to new arrivals in the unit that sometimes ended in serious injury or even death.

The organisation came to prominence during Russia’s first war in Chechnya (1994-1996), when it organised the Mothers’ March for Life and Compassion . This involved hundreds of middle aged women travelling to the war zone to find their sons and bring them back home.

Outrage at the mistreatment of conscripts spread throughout Russia at the grassroots level and undermined the entire basis of staffing the armed forces. Advised by the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers on legal ways to avoid military service  and supported by their families, young men of conscription age withdrew their labour from the state, sparking a crisis of recruitment  and retention that the Russian armed forces have only recently begun to recover from.

Failure of reform

The war in Ukraine is Russia’s first large-scale use of force since the start of a serious effort at  military reform  following Russia’s 2008 war in Georgia. Previous military operations either involved small numbers of highly trained forces (the annexation of Crimea in 2014 , the military intervention in Syria   since 2015) or covert support for proxies (the war in the Donbas , 2014-2022).

Despite a decade of reform  and a  significant increase in resources , what we have seen so far suggests that the attitudes in the Ministry of Defence towards the treatment of soldiers and their families have not changed much since the late Soviet period.

This could turn out to be a costly oversight. Putin’s tenure in the Kremlin is not necessarily dependent upon public opinion. But significant shifts in the mood of ordinary Russians will certainly undermine morale. This could cause some of the powerful figures that surround the president to question the wisdom of continuing down the current path, and perhaps also with the current leader.